Ever since I was a wee lad one of my favorite stories has been "Horton Hears a Who" by Dr. Seuss. His real name was Theodore Geisel, but it is tough to find something that rhymes with Geisel.

I'm sure that we all know it's a story about a group of very tiny Whos living in Who-ville, which was a place located on a speck of dust. Only an elephant named Horton believed that there was anything at all on that speck of dust until one day, just before the Wickersham clan was going to take the speck and boil it, all of the Whos down in Who-ville let out a "Yop" to let everyone know that they were there. It was the "Yop" that saved them.

It looks like it may be time for all of us to start practicing our "Yops." I say this because it seems that more and more folks around here are forgetting that there are other people in this world besides themselves. Oh, we all know that there are other people in this world, and SETI is searching for people or "whatevers" in other solar systems. But I think that some of us forget that we're not alone.

As I was traveling down Los Angeles Avenue the other morning, in the middle lane, I had to hit the brakes rather hard to avoid a car that stopped right in front of me. Being concerned, I started to pull alongside to see if the driver needed any help, but before I got there this driver made a right turn across traffic to enter the shopping center and forced another car to slam on the brakes.

The other fellow that hit the brakes looked at me and I at him, and we both shook our heads. We could have pulled into the parking lot and given the reckless driver a loud "Yop" to let her know that she was not alone and that we are here. We didn't think of it at the time because this column hadn't been written yet.

The same is true of the folks who still feel the need to scream into the cellphone in a restaurant or other public places. It is not hard to believe that they are unaware of the rest of us since the concept of the cellphone magically amplifying the sound and sending it out into space had eluded them completely. To these folks, I say "Yop!"

I also say let's give a "Yop" and a "We are here. We are here. We are here" to all of those who take the "me and only me" approach to life.

I'm certainly not suggesting an escalation in rudeness. I am only suggesting that perhaps some of the rudeness would stop if we just make it clear that we are here.

Maybe Moorpark might soon be known as the most polite city in the country.

Perhaps we could appoint a sort of municipal "Yopper," someone whose job it would be to point out that we are indeed here to those who might forget us from time to time. We might even have to appoint an assistant to help with the really difficult cases, like Time Warner.

It sounds good. Moorpark can be the most polite city in America enforced by a "Town Yopper." And, you never know, some day our speck of dust may need us all to let out one big "Yop."

If we don't become known as the most polite city in America, don't give up. Maybe we'll be known as the "Home of the Yopper."